Chương 138: Chapter 137 [Sniper]

The group returned to Marcus's house so Parmo could show his rewards without prying eyes. Lucas had fallen asleep on the way home, and Lyra had carried him up to bed.

"Right then," Marcus said, pulling up a stool in front of his worktop.

"Let's see what you've got." Parmo was already reading. The group waited.

"There's the quiver first," he said. He reached into the inventory space and pulled it out. It was compact, dark leather, with nothing about it that suggested anything unusual. He turned it over in his hands, ran his thumb along the stitching, then held it out to Marcus. Marcus took the quiver and held it toward the lamp. He turned it slowly, running a finger along the stitching without touching it.

"There are two enchantments worked into the leather," he said.

"Different colours, different purposes." He pointed to a faint line running along the base.

"This one I can read. Partially." He traced it.

"It's telling the quiver to generate an arrow when one is removed. So it won't run out." He paused.

"There's more to it than that, though. The second part of the same enchantment suggests the arrow type changes depending on what the user wants when they draw. What the types are, I can't say. That's something you'll have to work out."

"And the second enchantment?" Sam asked. Marcus moved his finger to a line running along the side seam, a different colour to the first, finer. He looked at it for a long moment.

"I can't read it. The structure is familiar, though." He glanced at Leo.

"It's the same as what's on your sword. Whatever it means, I'll need to crack one before I can crack the other." He handed the quiver back to Parmo.

"There's the skill as well," Parmo said.

"It's in the same tab Leo has. The Passive and Active skills one."

"Same one?" Leo said.

"Yeah. I think we can all probably get these over time just by doing different things."

"What's the skill?" Sam asked. Parmo read for a moment.

"It's called Hawkeye." He paused.

"It's not a targeting reticle. Not exactly." He read further, working through it.

"It gives me the ability to judge distance and trajectory for long-range shots perfectly. I activate it, and I've got a few minutes before it goes on cooldown. While it's active, I can calculate exactly where an arrow will land if I draw correctly and position right. So it's not point-and-shoot. It's more like..."

"A sniper," Sam said.

"Yeah. Exactly like a sniper. I have to be in the right position, right height, right draw. The skill tells me if the shot will land. But I still have to do everything correctly for it to work." The room was quiet for a moment.

"So you can arc shots over obstacles," Phil said.

"Yeah, but I could do that anyway. It's more I know I won't miss. As long as I can work out the position, the skill fills in the rest." Parmo set the UI down.

"The range is limited by my stats and the bow I'm using. So it'll grow."

"That's so OP, man," Leo said. Parmo laughed.

"Look who's talking." Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Phil and Sam nodded at that, having both been on the receiving end of Leo's flow state. Phil looked at Rika. She was staring, slack-jawed, at Parmo.

"That's completely unfair," she said. Her voice came out flat, before excitement came racing back.

"I want one." Parmo chuckled.

"The skill or the quiver?"

"Both." Parmo put the quiver away.

"What's the plan for the rest of the day?"

"There'll be a feast in a little while," Torren said.

"Best to get cleaned up and changed before then. Something a little nicer than tournament gear."

"You're welcome to use the rooms upstairs," Marcus said from the doorway.

"Storage mostly, but there's space to change. And if anyone wants to wash up, there's a tub on the ground floor. Large one. It's got self-heating enchants on it and a bucket that fills when you channel mana into it." The lads looked at each other.

"We'd like to see that," Leo said. Shai glanced at him.

"This is one of the few things Beast-kin can use their innate mana for. Come on, I'll show you how it works." The room on the other side of the ground floor was dominated by a tub that was nothing like the baths they were used to. It was circular, wide and deep, more like a bowl than anything else, the wood dark and smooth with age. Runes ran along the inside of the rim and down the sides, more visible on the pale interior than they would have been on the outside. Shai picked up a bucket from beside it.

She held it up so they could see the inside, which had more runes, finer than the ones on the tub.

"You think water," she said. Just the word, just the intent. She channelled a small amount of mana and the bucket began to fill, water appearing from nothing, rising steadily until it reached a line etched near the rim and stopped.

"Marcus put a limit on it so it doesn't overflow. He does these for people, the buckets and the tubs both. Kitchen stuff as well." She set the bucket down.

"We'd be lost without him." She rested her palm flat against the side of the tub. The runes shifted from pale to a deep red, spreading out from her hand.

"The longer they're on, the hotter the water gets. Think heat up or heat off." She lifted her hand and the runes faded.

"If you want to fill it quickly, tip the bucket on its side and think water. It'll run continuously until you set it upright again." She looked around at them.

"Clear enough?"

"That's so cool," Luka said.

"We might have all of this at home," Phil said.

"But it's not magic. This is sweet."

"Yeah. The water just coming out of nowhere kind of boggles the mind like," Leo said. Shai smiled.

"Right. Rika, Torren, and I are heading back to our home to get changed. We'll be back within the hour." She nodded toward the stairs.

"Rooms on the left up there are free. Marcus usually uses them for storage, but they're empty at the moment." She made her way to the door.

"I'll leave you all to it. See you in a bit." She left, and moments later Sam had his shirt off before anyone had said anything.

"So I guess you're going first," Phil said.

"No one laid claim to it." Sam filled the tub until it was halfway, tested the water with his hand, decided it needed more heat, and thought it warmer. A few minutes later, he stripped the rest of his clothes off and got in without ceremony, the others pulling up whatever they could find to sit on.

"So," Leo said.

"What do you guys think? I've enjoyed it so far. Stonehall's nice."

"Yeah. Festival food's been lush as well," Phil said.

"I wonder what the feast has," Luka said.

"If it's anything like what we had earlier, I'll be happy," Parmo said.

"Same." Leo stretched out.

"What did you make of the tournament?" Parmo considered it from the other side of the room.

"Honestly? It was tough, but I thought it'd be harder. I know we were told we'd be fine going in, but it still felt like we had it easier than we should have. Does that make sense?"

"The UI is kind of OP," Sam said from the bath.

"There's no way we should have made it that far on a month's training."

"How was the archery?" Leo asked. Parmo leaned back.

"More or less what you said earlier. Nervous going in, but once I had the bow up and the first target in front of me, the crowd just kind of faded. Never came back after that."

"That's good, mate," Leo said, smiling.

"Right. You lot going to look for dates for the dance tomorrow?" Phil closed his eyes.

"Oh, here we fucking go."

"I'm not taking the piss this time." Leo held his hands up.

"From what I can tell, tonight's the perfect chance to mingle."

"Yeah, that's what I'll be doing," Sam said. Luka nodded.

"Same. Can't be the only one without a date. Especially when you and Parmo of all people already have it sorted." Leo laughed.

"What about you, Phil?" Leo said.

"Going to try your luck with that orc woman from the stall earlier?"

"I don't fucking know. I'll see what happens."

"We won't call you a furry if you end up with a beast-kin woman, just so you know."

"I wasn't worried." The others grinned at him.

"Fuck you guys," Phil said. Sam, still in the bath, laughed loud enough that it echoed off the walls.